Where did I go?

A few people have asked me if I have stopped blogging or just dropped off the face of the planet. No, I did not do either. I got very caught up in Swap-Bot and have been using the time to really feel out the site and participate. I wanted to be able to give an accurate review of the experience and let you all know what it is all about! So here goes.

I joined Swap Bot mid May. I found a button on a random blog and boy am I glad! I have completed 49 swaps since joining and am signed up for several others currently. It has become one of my favorite places online. Swapping has given me some "ME" time. Here is how the bot works.

First you have to be a member. This is the easy part. Just go to www.swap-bot.com and register. Then you get to fill out your profile. Make sure you fill it with things that apply to you! This is how people will be able to tailor swaps to fit you. If you like the color pink, make sure you say so. If you simply detest orchids, put it down. If you are allergic to anything, be sure to include this also. List the crafts that you enjoy as well as creating a wishlist of items you would love to have. Be sure to include some small, light, and flat items that are easily shipped in an envelope.

Next, go to the find swaps button at the top of the page. You are now ready to find a swap. There are usually several newbie friendly swaps that are easy. I recommend joining one of those just to get the idea of how a swap works. Also, check out the forums! They are a wealth of information and the experienced swappers are usually pretty willing to explain things to newbies if you don't understand something. There is also a one on one trading forum where newbies can gain ratings through private swaps with experienced swappers so you can join more swaps.

I have to say I am very excited to have found swap-bot! I get to sit down and focus on something for me. I put together my swaps and take great pride in the creations. I have also decided to dive into a few crafts that I have never even heard of before. You never know, you may just find that you are more creative than you give yourself credit for!

I am addicted! (and a small giveaway)

And the winner is......
Number #13
Roosterruler! Congrats!

Erin H said...

Roosterruler sent me a PM on SB

To swap-bot! My goodness, the artistic talent and creativity is just outrageous!!!! Because of this new-found love, I will send one of my lucky readers a "random envie" of goodies, similar to the ones you might receive on swap-bot. Of course, this is to spread the word and convince you to join as well :) A word of warning, if you do join, and you don't send to your partner, you will be flogged for eternity for being a flaker! But none of my readers would ever do that, would they? Anyhow, on to the giveaway!

To Enter: Just leave a comment. Yes, that is it. Any comment will do but it would be great if you would pop on over to swap-bot and take a looksy around and comment about it here.

EXTRA ENTRY: Join swap-bot and private message me there telling me it is an entry into the giveaway. I am aprettykitty84 clicking this link will take you directly to my profile. If you are already a member, you can message me too for an extra entry!

I will leave the contest open for a week, closing it on 6/15/2010 at 6 pm EDT.

US only, 18+, I was not influenced nor am I getting compensated for this post.

Trying my hand at being crafty

So I just joined this swapping site, Swap-Bot and I am totally loving it! So far I have received tons of cute little crafty things, cards, etc. They have these TAG games where you 'tag' someone and they send you something and you post something else to offer. I offered a handmade personalized bookmark in one of my tags thinking it seems simple enough if they pick that. Well, the person that tagged me chose the bookmark. I thought here we go! So I sat down tonight to brainstorm and figure out how to make this bookmark. It took me about 1 1/2 hours but this is what I came up with. Her name is Amy and she likes the colors orange and purple and the Princess Diaries books. The colors are a little washed out from my flash (sorry about that), but what do you think about the finished product?

ChristyNelson.net craft of the month

I won a monthly craft pack and some other goodies from KraftyKash and I got the bucket of items today. I was excited to get started on my craft for the month. Included in the packet was a small twig wreath, 3 small circle mirrors, lots of styrofoam beads in red, yellow, and green, floral wire, and 2 leather straps.

The rules are that you must use at least SOME of each material, and any other materials as needed. It is not required that you use ALL of the materials provided. You can only make one craft per packet for submission to the contest.

Here is my masterpiece.
It is a tiny red bird made out of 2 red styrofoam beads, a small bit of floral wire for a beak, secured to the wreath with floral wire. I used one of the little mirrors as a base for my "nest" and used 3 yellow styrofoam beads for eggs. I wrapped some of the green wrapper from the florist wire around the eggs to make it look like moss. All of it is placed into the twig wreath and I used a leather strap to hang it up.

It took about 10 minutes to make once I figured out what I wanted to make.

Head on over to Christy Nelson for yourself and check out the monthly contest, and get a craft packet of your own!

I made it!

Well, I made it through the mommy and me girl scout camping trip. We actually had a ton of fun! The girls loved it, there were no scaredy cats!!! All the moms were great as well, we had a lot of good conversation and some laughs as well. It was a great break from the usual hustle and bustle of being a mom.

We arrived at camp around 3 pm, we left right after school got out. First, the girls had to carry their own bags from the cars to the tents and get buddies. And by tents, I mean cabin-like tents. They are permanent fixtures and have cots!!! Plus one right there!! After the girls got their things into the tents, we made our beds and got bug spray on. We checked out the greenies, a.k.a. pit toilets, which were not as bad as all the moms expected!

Now we are ready to go on our first hike! We get to the edge of the woods near the start of the trail and it goes straight down. This hill is steep! We are all holding on to trees as we go slowly down the hill trying to keep our footing. We see some deer tracks and raccoon tracks but didn't catch any animals. The trails were muddy so we didn't do as much hiking as was planned. We also made a stop at the wishing tree and the troll bridge. The we had to go back UP this hill. That was an adventure all its own. We all made it!!!


We headed back to camp for dinner. The girls roasted hot dogs over the fire for the moms and themselves, We let the girls play for a little bit while the adults chatted and Fiona managed to fall in the mud! She had it everywhere! Then we had s'mores and banana boats. Oh my!!!!! Banana boats are my new favorite campfire food! I posted the recipe! We ended the night with some not so scary stories and singing.




The night was uneventful, no girls screaming and no critters getting into the cabins. In the morning we helped ourselves to cereal and donut holes while warming up by the fire. The it was time for a troop picture!

Then it was time for the girls to clean the greenies. Surprisingly, they were very willing and seemed to have fun doing it. Fiona even volunteered, and later did, to clean our bathroom at home! The girls did a couple crafts and that was pretty much it.

Fiona can't wait to do it again, and I am willing to do it again! We had a lot of fun and I would encourage anyone that has to opportunity to go on a girl scout camping trip, to go!

I will be MIA until Saturday afternoon

I just wanted to give all my readers a heads up that I will be gone from now until Saturday afternoon. I am going on a Mommy and Me overnight camping trip with Fiona. Wish me luck! Tonight I am sure I will be inundated with tons of high pitched squealing and giggles. The only thing I am really hoping NOT to happen: getting my shoes wet. Like soaking wet. I cannot stand squishy shoes or wet socks. Yeah, that is probably the least of my worries but I am hoping it doesn't happen. I am hoping that Fiona has a great time and enjoys her first camping experience. Granted we are going to be in platform tents with little cots but the little girls are going to be doing the cooking and they will get to see what it is like to spend the night with nature. I am sure I will have tons of pictures to post when we get back so look forward to seeing them!!!!

Until tomorrow!